Ethan Dodd – Visual Artist. Cardiff, Wales

September 30, 2013September 30, 2013

I am struggling with my concept

(I do like this little person’s ‘mask’ though.)

The idea of the Haniwa haunts me, there’s something in the idea of them that relates to the theme of ‘Time’, but I cannot figure it out for the life of me. Is it the similarity between civilisations and cultures to bury the dead with offerings? A way to appease the afterlife and the soul of the cadaver? Or is it a testament to the attempt to transcend death through the creation of Artwork? something that you are then known for even AFTER your death?

I cannot fathom what draws me to them, of course, I have my own issues and obsessions over the concept of death, but this feeling is different. It’s as if the very idea of the Haniwa haunts me, it draws me to them time and time again. The little statues of people, of forms that reference Humans in some obscure way, is something that I keep coming back to, and working on. It started in my projects last year, when I began getting into ceramics and sculpture, and has taken over a part of my brain that I cannot shake loose.

Possibly, possibly it’s because they are empty? And I am attempting to achieve this emptiness in my work? I try but fail at this, perhaps I need to work on a potter’s wheel? Begin experimenting with some pots, and empty forms, much like the cocoons of last year.

I presume, I find comfort in empty spaces. I feel a longing for them, and I don’t understand why. Possibly it’s a development of my concept of ‘Wombs’, and every human’s need for a womb, a space of their own to steal away into, or escape their lives in favor of quiet, self-being and/or reflection.